Tucked between the bustling Islington Wharf boat yard and the church of St Gluvias is a secret, (well a not so secret now), little path. Follow this path from Penryn to Flushing, walk along the coastline and you will discover some real delights along the way.
If the tide is out, (please check the tide times here before you go), you can choose to follow the little wooden pontoon and pass among the moorings or, take the higher path and walk above the river through the trees.
Penryn sits across the head of the river that branches off from the Fal estuary and passes into two creeks, Glasney Creek, (sometimes referred to as College Stream), and St Gluvias Greek. It is the towns position at the head of the river that the name Penryn derives from, Pen rynn means, ‘head or end of a point’.
As you walk along side the St Gluvias Creek toward Penryn harbour and imagine a time long before other local ports became busy. A time when this harbour would have been filled with tall ships and their crews busily loading up locally mined granite and tin for exportation.
Today as you look along the river you are met with a colourful and interesting array of yachts, fishing boats, long boats and a variety of homes permanently moored along St Gluvias Creek. There are occasional darker sights too, skeletal remnants of larger once cared for boats left to rot along the shoreline. Yet even these seaweed clad rotten vessels add to the wonder of this particular walk.
This is a good hour stroll or longer depending on how many interesting things you find along the way. This is certainly a varied walk in terms of discoveries and I hope I won’t give too much away with the pictures.
Dogs will love it and children young and old won’t be able to resist becoming intrepid explorers. Sturdy pushchairs will make it along the footpath but there are two or three stiles to negotiate along the way.
It is also worth noting that there is a great fish shop, art galleries and a restaurant in the boat yard at Islington Wharf all worth visiting.
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- Start near, ‘Muddy Beach’, on the edge of St Gluvias Creek.
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- There are a number of great rope swings for you to find along the way.
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- Look through the trees and see the many different boats moored along the creek.
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- I swear this pony moonwalked as we passed!
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- Many of the boats along the Penryn river are homes and permanent moorings.
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- Look back and imagine the estuary, harbour and inner harbour packed with tall ships.
Sounds delightful! Must try to find this walk when we come down to Cornwall in July.
You must! I am trying to get ’round to adding a map on the website but time isn’t always on my side! Come in to Penryn from Truro down Treluswell. At the first set of lights turn left, (you may need to park in the free car park that is signposted after the lights on the right and then walk back). You will see Islington Wharf almost instantly on the right and St Gluvias Church on the straight after. Between the two you will find the, ‘Secret’ path. I look forward to seeing your adventure in pics too 🙂 Don’t forget to pop in to Miss Peapods and/or Number 20 for tea & cake on your return journey!
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